BEIRUT: Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Israeli military’s call for residents of vast areas of southern Lebanon to evacuate raised “serious risks of violations of the laws of war.”
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel with Israel conducting air strikes across the country and its troops pushing into border towns.
On Thursday, Israel renewed its warning to residents of hundreds of square kilometers (miles) of southern Lebanon to evacuate because of military action.
“Calling on everyone who lives south of the Litani (River) to evacuate immediately raises serious legal and humanitarian red flags and fears for the safety of civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“How are older people, the sick and people with disabilities going to be able to evacuate immediately? And how will their safety be guaranteed as they leave?” he said in a statement from the rights group.
HRW said “the sweeping nature” of Israel’s call raised “concerns that their purpose is not to protect civilians,” adding that the area was home to hundreds of thousands of people.
The evacuation call “raises serious risks of violations of the laws of war,” it added.
Lebanese authorities said dozens of people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced from their homes since Monday.